Summary At 1318 eastern daylight time on 14May2001, in clear and calm weather, while outbound and fully laden, the CanadianTransfer struck bottom approximately 1.25nautical miles west of the Goderich Harbour outer piers. Substantial damage was sustained by the vessel. Ce rapport est galement disponible en franais. Other Factual Information Particulars of the Vessel On 14May2001 at 1300 eastern daylight time,1 the CanadianTransfer departed Sifto Salt Dock, Goderich, Ontario, with 14846metric tonnes of road salt. The propulsion machinery was tested prior to departure. The master reported that before departure from the dock the electronic chart precise integrated navigation system (ECPINS) had an offset placing the vessel south of its actual position. It was also found that the ECPINS unit was operating within its prescribed parameters upon inspection after the occurrence. The remaining navigation instruments were operating satisfactorily and there was no reported gyro error. A chart room is located aft of the bridge. There is a separate chart table, located at the forward starboard side of the bridge to assist the person(s) conning the vessel. Photo2. Starboard side of bridge lookingaft The weather was sunny and clear with light westerly winds estimated at between 5and 10knots. The Lake Huron water level was 0.08metre (m) below chart datum. Outside the harbour, there was a current of one-half to one knot running from south to north. The operating company requires their masters to have a pre-departure passage plan prepared for harbour inbound and outbound vessels. A pre-departure plan for the CanadianTransfer from Goderich Harbour had not been prepared. On the bridge were the helmsman and a relief master. The relief master was aboard to gain navigational knowledge for the local harbours involved with the local salt and stone trade and would soon relieve the permanent master, who was on board. The second officer, the officer of the watch (OOW), was below on the main deck supervising the stowage of gear while the vessel was proceeding out of the harbour. Once the stowage was complete, he showered and refreshed himself in preparation for his arrival on the bridge. At 1307, the CanadianTransfer passed the Goderich outer piers at slow speed and the helmsman was steering a course of 272true. The ECPINS chart in use was the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) chart2291(A). No further course changes were given. The relief master progressively moved the controllable pitch throttle control stick ahead to a reported 9position. At the control position setting of10, the vessel will attain a speed of 14.5to15knots. To assist inbound and outbound vessel traffic in Goderich Harbour, the navigational aid consists of a set of ranges which indicates an outbound course of 266.5true. In the past, buoys were marking the limits of the channel but these were removed when the Government of Canada commercialized the operation of the port of Goderich and handed over its control to the municipality. The vessel was located south of the line of ranges after passing through the outer piers and was observed by the relief master to cross to the north of the range line a few minutes later. Figure1. Excerpt from ECPINS showing the track of the CanadianTransfer At this time, no course correction was made. The OOW arrived on the bridge at a time estimated to be between 1309 and 1313. The relief master instructed the OOW to calculate the estimated time of arrival for the voluntary call-in point between Harbour Beach, Michigan, U.S., and Point Clark, Ontario. The OOW went to the chartroom aft of the bridge to perform the calculations and was joined briefly by the relief master. On completion of this task, the OOW moved back to the bridge and stood by a smaller chart table, located to starboard, and looked ahead. The ECPINS unit was now showing CHS Chart2291(A) and was occasionally glanced at by the OOW and the relief master. The paper chart in use on the bridge to assist the master was CHS Chart2228-2, showing Goderich Harbour, and a much smaller scale paper chart CHS Chart 2228, which shows the channel approach to Goderich Harbour at a scale of1/120,000. The larger scale CHS Chart2261,1/80,000, shows the channel and approaches to Goderich Harbour more clearly with additional depth soundings but was not indicated as being used at the forward starboard bridge chart table. No position plotting had taken place at any time. No further instruction was given by the relief master. There were no communications between bridge team members relating to the navigation of the vessel. Between 1314 and 1315, the watchman arrived on the bridge to transcribe tank sounding information from his rough deck log to the bridge logbook. At 1317, the relief master called Sarnia Traffic to pass on the voluntary estimated time of arrival information for mid-Lake Huron. At 1318, while the relief master was communicating with Sarnia Traffic, the bridge personnel felt and heard a heavy rumbling noise, which was described by most personnel as similar to an anchor having letgo. The watchman was sent below to find out what had occurred and he relayed to the bridge that the anchors were secured. It was now understood by the bridge crew that the vessel had struck bottom. After several ship's telephone calls between the relief and permanent masters, the permanent master arrived on the bridge within two minutes and took charge of vessel navigation. In this time period the CanadianTransfer listed six to eight degrees to port and was turning on a hard-to-port course alteration. Not knowing the full extent of the damage, the permanent master sounded the general alarm and the crew members were instructed to don their immersion suits and muster on deck. The permanent master ordered full astern and proceeded to anchor the vessel. The speed of the CanadianTransfer at the time of striking bottom was estimated by the bridge officers to be between 9.5and 10knots. The ECPINS unit replay showed that the vessel was proceeding at 11.4knots. The bottom contact occurred in latitude 4344.8'N , longitude 08146'W, some 300m north of the centre of the channel. Upon inspection, it was found that the No.1 port ballast tank was filling and that the extraction pumps could not keep up with the ingress of water. The forepeak tank had also taken on water; however, the pumps were able to control the ingress. While the first officer was accounting for all crew members, it was discovered that the chief cook had collapsed to the deck near the galley while attempting to don her immersion suit. She was transported to the open deck on a stretcher where she recovered soon afterward. Personnel Certification and Experience The relief master had sailed in that capacity on approximately six other vessels over the last two years for short periods of time. He had previously navigated the CanadianCentury into and out of Goderich Harbour but considered himself still in training for this period of time. The need for additional training was recognized by the company while he was acquiring more local knowledge and experience in the salt and stone trade. The relief master was appropriately certificated for the voyage intended and had taken the five-day bridge resource management (BRM) training course in1997 at Newport, Rhode Island. U.S.A. The OOW was appropriately certificated for his position. However, he did not have formal BRM training.